Beaver Fever Friday – Mohamed Kone and Cody Landwehr – Mens Basketball

Bemidji State to host Minn.-Morris, Northland in weekend series

Bemidji State University men’s basketball continues its non-conference schedule with a weekend slate against the University of Minnesota-Morris and Northland College on Nov. 19-20 at BSU Gymnasium. The Beavers and Cougars tip-off an exhibition contest at 6 p.m. Friday before facing the Lumberjacks at 3 p.m. Saturday.

Minnesota-Morris leads the all-time series, 44-37. The Beavers and Cougars have played once since the 2002-03 season, an 89-67 win by BSU on Nov. 25, 2014. BSU has won 11 of the last 12 games against UMM, topping 100 points in two of the last three games.

Bemidji State and Minnesota-Morris first met Feb. 22, 1965, a 104-95 win by BSU in Morris, Minn.

Bemidji State leads the all-time series against Northland, 47-7. BSU Head Coach Mike Boschee is 4-0 in games against NC. The Beavers have won seven straight against the Lumberjacks and 23 of the last 24 games dating back to 1982.

The series began on Dec. 5, 1941, a 62-31 win by Bemidji State in Bemidji.

Bemidji State opened the 2021-22 season with an 82-67 win over Concordia University-St. Paul at home. BSU improved to 7-3 in season openers and 9-1 in home openers under Boschee. The Beavers dominated the paint on its way to a 43-29 lead at halftime. BSU outscored CSP in the lane, 56-32, through the game behind 54.0 percent shooting from the field.

BSU was led in scoring by sophomore forward John Sutherland with 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting in his debut with the team. Senior guards Mohamed Kone and Travis Bianco, also in his first game at BSU, added 17 points each. Fellow newcomer and senior Gare Ewefada totaled double-digit scoring with 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting.

The Beavers gave the ball away on 16 turnovers that led to 19 points for the Golden Bears but put in 19 second-chance points on 11 offensive rebounds compared to seven second-chance points for CSP. Bemidji State enters the weekend seventh in the NSIC in scoring offense and defense, and fifth in field goal percentage offense and field goal percentage defense. The Beavers are second in the conference in rebounding offense with 44.0 boards per game and third in rebounding defense with 27.0 rebounds allowed.